February - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

Church Information 63
allegedly found in a gravel pit at Piltdown but turned out to be a medieval
human skull, the jaw of an orangutan, and the fossilised teeth of a chimpanzee.
The bones had been stained to give an appearance of age and the teeth had
been filed to make them appear more human. The identity of the hoaxer
remains unknown, though it is widely thought to have been Charles Dawson,
who claimed to have found the remains.
The belief in evolutionist circles throughout the 1920s and 30s was that
“Piltdown man” was an early human being closely related to apes. A few
scientists were suspicious from the first but their voices were not heard, and
it is estimated that more than 250 scientific papers were written discussing
the significance of “Piltdown man”. The “fossil” was cited as evidence at the
famous Scopes Monkey trial in Tennessee in 1925.
The significance of the hoax is not so much the occasional dishonesty of
scientists, although this may play its part in the Creation-Evolution debate,
as the fact that the scientific community can be mistaken for a long period
of time, even when contrary voices are being raised. The “assured facts of
science” always have a question mark pencilled against them, and it is as
well to remind evolutionists that this is so. In 40 years’ time, their current
theories may look as crude and antiquated as the Piltdown hoax did in 1953.
DWBS
Church Information
Induction of Rev K M Watkins
Though 14 November 2012 was very cold and wet, a considerable number
of people converged on Barnoldswick, Lancashire, to worship the great God
who calls men to the sacred work of the ministry and who sends them to their
spheres of labour. This warm-hearted company gathered on a winter’s night
to rejoice with them that rejoice and to witness the solemn induction of Rev
K M Watkins, who was that evening to become the first Free Presbyterian
minister in the North of England.
Those who arranged the location of the service judged that the numbers
attending the Induction would exceed the capacity of our church building in
Barnoldswick. The numbers proved that their judgement was right. People
gathered to the more commodious Independent Methodist Church. Some
came from London and others from some of our congregations in Scotland.
A small company of local people also joined with the friends from the
Barnoldswick Congregation. The Presbytery met at 6.30 pm and public
worship commenced at 7.30. Rev J MacLeod preached and presided. His